Enthused by his hat-trick BJP stalwart Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed his thanks to the people of Madhya Pradesh by announcing a slew of welfare measures for the State.
Soon after taking oath as the Chief Minister, Chouhan on Saturday got down to business and took four major decisions to benefit farmers, businessmen, the poor and the middle class alike. This is the first time that the Chief Minister of any State has got down to work so instantly and has signed files instantly after issuing orders from the dais.
The schemes included rice at Rs 1 per kilogram for the poor, Mukhyamantri Khet-Sadak Yojana to connect agriculture fields with roads, setting up of MP Madhyam Varg Aayog, a commission to address problems faced by the middle class and MP Vyapar Samvardhan Mandal for promoting industries to generate employment, that will come into effect from January 1, 2014.
He also vowed not to allow any new liquor shop in the State and also announced a major campaign to protect the girl child. The Chief Minister said he would start a campaign in a big way to generate awareness to save the girl child. “No nation can progress without saving their girls. We need to save the girl child. It is our duty to ensure social and economic empowerment of women,” he said.
Making the announcement on the rice he said: “The BJP regime has been providing wheat at Rs 1 per kg and rice at Rs 2 per kg to poor families. Henceforth, the Government will provide wheat, rice and salt at Rs 1 per kg.” He signed an order in this regard from the stage stating that this would come into effect from January 1.
Announcing the Mukhyamantri Khet-Sadak Yojana he stressed the need for providing good road connectivity in rural areas and said not only would all villages get roads but even farms would be connected to roads. Regarding the MP Madhyam Varg Aayog (Commission for Middle Class) he said the middle class often complains that their problems go unheeded but now the Ayog would be constituted to identify their grievances and make recommendations to resolve them.
Pointing out that development of trade was as important as promoting the industry, Chouhan said the MP Vyapar Samvardhan Mandal would be formed to chalk out policies and to look into various problems of the community. He assured the gathering that in 2018, Madhya Pradesh would be one of the most prosperous States of the country.
He promised that the Narmada-Kshipra link project will be implemented from next month. Other rivers will also be revived using Narmada river waters and irrigation capacity will touch 40 lakh hectares in the coming five years. Power generation will increase to 14,000 MW by next year and 20,000 MW by 2018.
Chouhan said that no new liquor shop would be allowed to open in the State and urged social organizations and religious heads to come forward to check the evil of alcoholism. He stated that the quality of school education would be improved even further and there would be no paucity of funds for higher education. Every district would have a special cell headed by a District Collector in order to ensure better implementation of the higher education guarantee scheme.
He also promised that the scheme for free distribution of drugs would continue and a new medicare policy would be announced in order to ensure better healthcare facilities for the common man. Over one lakh people had come to witness the swearing-in ceremony. Chouhan was administered the oath by Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav.
Besides a number of businessmen, the ceremony was attended by Chief Ministers of three States, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. The businessmen who attended the programme were Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, Force Motors Chairman Abhay Firodia, Bharat Forge ltd Executive Director Amit Kalyani, Trident Group Chairman Anil Gupta, Vardhaman Group Chairman SP Oswal, CMD of Surya Roshani ltd Jaiprakash Agrawal, Essar Group Director Anshuman Ruiya and others.